The Saudi-backed LIV Golf has hired a lobbying firm to advance its interests in D.C., lobbying registration filings show.
Why it matters: LIV remains highly controversial, partly due to conflicts with the PGA Tour and partly due to its source of funding — the Saudi Arabian government. Critics have alleged the country is using golf to boost its global image.
The White House on Thursday issued a new policy that will require all federally funded research to be immediately — and freely — available to the public upon publication starting no later than 2026.
Why it matters: The memorandum, issued by the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), will end journals' abilities to put the results from federally funded research behind paywalls for up to one year and will increase the public's immediate access to such research.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) refused Donald Trump's application for a trademark for "Truth Social," the name of his social media company earlier this month. A trademark lawyer in Washington surfaced the filing on Thursday.
Why it matters: The trademark refusal is just the latest setback for the former president's social media app and its parent company, which have been beset by a raft of issues over the past few months.
Staffers at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee have voted to approve a collective bargaining agreement, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: The House Democratic campaign arm's more than 250-member union is the largest collective bargaining unit in the Democratic Party, and will offer a key test of how a unionized campaign committee staff performs in the final stages of a crucial midterm election.
The average weekly inflation-adjusted wage of public school teachers increased just $29 from 1996 to 2021, per a report by the Economic Policy Institute.
Why it matters: Teachers have made less than their non-teacher peers over the last few decades and it's a trend that will likely continue — and contribute to the already declining teacher pool.
A $386 million coronavirus pandemic veteran's retraining program run by the Department of Veterans Affairs largely did not function as was designed and did not attract as many veterans as it was created to serve, according to a Washington Post investigation.
Why it matters: The program, included in the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act that passed last year, heavily relied on for-profit institutions, some of which were later barred from participating in the program.
Rep. Matt Cartwright appeared in television commercials praising a top donor's law firm — an apparent misunderstanding over video shot for the Pennsylvania Democrat's bill about water contamination at Camp Lejeune, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: Members of Congress are prohibited from using official resources to promote commercial endeavors.
Donald Trump's 2020 presidential campaign rejected an offer to buy President Biden's daughter's stolen diary, federal prosecutors say.
Why it matters: The revelation comes amid a criminal investigation into how the diary and other property belonging to Ashley Biden ended up in the hands of right-wing journalists.
The home of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) was involved in another "swatting" incident Thursday morning, the second one in as many days, according to police.
Why it matters: "Swatting" is the act of placing a fake emergency call to 911 operators, who often dispatch armed SWAT teams to what they think is a violent situation. Swatting attacks are used as a prank or form of harassment and have led to fatal consequences.
States that have enacted abortion restrictions or bans also have "systemic" barriers in place that impede "the health and economic security of pregnant and birthing people and their families," according to a new report from the nonpartisan and nonprofit National Partnership for Women & Families first shared with Axios.
Driving the news: The report, which comes as three states are poised to enact trigger bans, shows that gaps in policies remain.
A conservative coalition focused on Florida school board elections had a big night on Tuesday with dozens of their candidates helping them gain influence over school boards around the state.
Why it matters: School boards have become ground zero for political fights over COVID-19 restrictions, curricula involving racism, and the rights of LGBTQ+ students and transgender athletes.
Passion about abortion rights has fueled a stunning turnaround in Democrats’ midterm fortunes.
Why it matters: The inflation slowdown and lower gas prices also are big factors. But officials in both parties tell us abortion has animated Democratic engagement like no other issue since President Trump left office.
Former President Barack Obama is jumping full-on into the midterms with a fundraiser for the Senate Democrats' campaign arm, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: The event comes as Democrats' once-poor outlook of keeping control of the upper chamber has improved amid pervasive candidate quality issues among Republican Senate contenders.
President Biden's student debt cancellation plan is welcome news for millions of existing borrowers, but it does little to address high college costs that will burden future students.
Why it matters: Student Defense, a nonprofit that is pushing for broader systemic changes, compared the plan to bailing the water out of a sinking boat without plugging the leak.
Democrats running in battleground Senate and House races panned President Biden's student loan relief plan within hours of its release — a sign of fears that it could alienate swing voters in November.
Why it matters: Biden hopes to energize younger voters with the student loan forgiveness plan. But there's a risk it will give Republicans fuel for their argument that Democrats aren't focused on the issue most important to many voters: inflation.
Former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke "knowingly provided incorrect, incomplete, and misleading answers" to federal investigators over a tribal casino application when he served in the Trump administration, according to a new report.
Why it matters: Wednesday's report by the Department of Interior's inspector general marks the second time the I.G. has found Zinke made false statements when he served in the role. Zinke, the Republican nominee for Montana's new House seat, disputes the findings.
Russian opposition figure Yevgeny Roizman said he was detained by security forces in Russia's fourth-largest city, Yekaterinburg, on Wednesday for comments he made about Putin's war on Ukraine.
Driving the news: Roizman, who served as mayor of Yekaterinburg from 2013-2018, was charged with "public dissemination of deliberately false information about the use of the armed forces of the Russian Federation," according to a post on his Telegram account.
Three American service members were injured in Syria in two separate rocket attacks by suspected Iran-backed militants on Wednesday, the U.S. military said.
The big picture: The latest in a series of attacks on American personnel to be linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard came hours after the U.S. military said it had launched airstrikes against Iranian-backed groups in eastern Syria.
Why it matters: The ban that's set to take effect Thursday would outlaw abortion in the state unless a pregnant person's life were endangered or if the pregnancy was a result of rape or incest that was reported to law enforcement.
The Uvalde school board voted unanimously Wednesday to fire the school district's police chief for his handling of the May 24 mass shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School.
Why it matters: Pete Arredondo acted as the "incident commander" overseeing law enforcement's response to the school shooting, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. He has faced calls to be fired since it was revealed that 19 officers waited for nearly an hour in the hallways as the gunman barricaded himself in with victims.
A federal jury awarded $16 million in damages to Vanessa Bryant over emotional distress caused unauthorized photos taken at the scene of the helicopter crash that killed her husband, Kobe Bryant, their daughter Gigi, and seven others.
Driving the news: Jurors returned a unanimous verdict agreeing with Bryant and her co-plaintiff, Christopher Chester, that the photos of their spouses and children's bodies taken and circulated by deputies and firefighters invaded the privacy of the victims' families, per multiple reports.
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